Operation NaruHina
by The Chocolate Queen
Summary: Everyone knows that Hinata has always had a crush on Naruto, except for Naruto himself. Luckily, Hinata has some..."wonderful" friends who are determined to get them together, no matter what. Operation NaruHina is now in effect!
1. It All Started with a Sleepover

**Since I totally ship NaruHina, I wanted to write a fanfic about that couple. So this is what my crazy and insane mind produced.**

**This fanfic takes place in a modern day high school, just to let you guys know.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto, cuz if I did, Hinata and Tenten would have _way _more important scenes, instead of being filler characters.**

"So, Hinata, who do you like?" Ino purred, leaning in closer to her, as if this was a big juicy secret.

Hinata, Tenten, and Sakura were staying over at Ino's house for a sleepover and they were playing Truth or Dare. It was Hinata's turn, and she had chosen Truth.

"Come on, Ino," Tenten muttered, rolling her eyes. "That's the oldest truth in the book. Besides, everyone knows that Hinata likes _Naruto_."

At the mention of his name, Hinata turned beet red.

Ino flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Duh, I knew that already. I just wanted Hinata to admit it, that's all." She turned back to Hinata. "So, do you like Naruto?"

"W-w-well, u-um, I-I, u-uh…" Hinata stuttered helplessly, and picked at her cotton pajama pants.

Sakura sighed. "Ino, don't make her say it if she doesn't want to."

Ino glared at her and crossed her arms. "Don't be such a wussy, forehead-girl! I just want her to admit it so we can get them together already! I'm just sick of how Naruto is so oblivious!"

Sakura glared back at her. "Well, when have I ever heard you say you like Sasuke? You don't even have the guts to talk to him, so stop picking on Hinata!"

"Shut up, forehead! When have I ever heard _you _talk to Sasuke?" Ino retorted.

Sakura turned the same shade of red as Hinata. "Don't talk to me like that, Pig!" she spluttered.

"Forehead Girl!"

"Ino-piggy!"

"Forehead!"

"Piggy!"

"Fore-"

"SHUT UP!" Tenten roared, and there was immediate silence. "Guys, stop fighting! Focus on Hinata!"

Still fuming, Ino and Sakura managed to turn back to Hinata, while still shooting death rays with their eyes at each other.

"So, do you?" Tenten asked to Hinata.

"W-what?" Hinata stuttered, disappointed that she hadn't been let off the hook.

"You know what I'm talking about! Do you like Naruto?" Tenten repeated.

Hinata turned even redder, as if that weren't possible already, and poked her index fingers at eachother. Squirming under the unwavering gaze of Tenten, she managed to squeak out a nearly inaudible "yes".

"Yes!" Ino and Tenten high-fived each other. "She admitted it!" Ino squealed, no longer fuming at Sakura.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "So? What's your point?"

Ino jabbed her elbow into Sakura. "I know you're supposed to be super smart, so use your brain, Dummy! This means we can finally tell Naruto and get them together!" she said.

Sakura rubbed the arm Ino had jabbed her elbow into. "But don't you think that _Hinata_ should confess to Naruto? I mean, she's the one who likes him, right?" she pointed out.

Hinata furiously shook her head. "N-n-no! I-I c-can't do t-that!"

They all ignored her. "Hmm, Sakura's right," Tenten agreed. "But Hinata doesn't have the nerve to do that! She always faints when he talks to her."

"So why don't we help her out a little?" Ino proposed. "We can set things up so that Naruto is alone with her a lot, and if she faints we can always try again, right?" She looked at the other two, who were thinking this over, and slowly nodding their heads. Hinata's face stayed red.

"Who's with me?" Ino placed her hand, palm down in the middle of them.

"I'm in!" Tenten chirped excitedly, and placed her hand on top of Ino's.

They looked at Sakura.

"Well…it's more fun than to study for the finals, I guess." Sakura reluctantly put her hand on top of Tenten's and smiled.

Everyone looked at Hinata.

"U-uh, I g-guess I h-have n-no choice," the shy girl stuttered. Before Hinata could change her mind, Sakura used her other hand to firmly direct Hinata's hand to the top of the pile.

"Guys, you know what I just thought of?" Sakura asked. "When you combine Naruto and Hinata's names together, it makes NaruHina!"

"Hey, that sounds kinda cute!" Ino gushed.

"So let's call this 'Operation NaruHina'!" Sakura finished.

"Here's to Operation NaruHina!" Ino, Tenten, and Sakura cheered, and they raised their hands out of the pile. Hinata just blushed.

"Ino! Tell your friends to go to sleep now!" Ino's mom called from downstairs.

"Ok!" Ino called back. Sakura checked her digital watch and yawned.

"It's already 1:40 AM. We really should go to bed," she said.

By now, everyone's eyelids were drooping anyway, so Ino turned off the light and crawled into her bed. The others crawled into their sleeping bags.

"'Night," Ino murmered and the others said the same. Then they abruptly fell asleep except for a certain purple haired girl.

Hinata, still somewhat shocked at the way things turned out, was lying awake in her sleeping bag. She curled into a ball and tried to get comfortable, as her "wonderful" friends were dreaming of ways to get Hinata to confess to Naruto.

**So how was it? If you like it, please say so and click the little blue button down there! :D**

**And if you don't, too bad, click it anyway! **

**From Her Royal Majesty, **

**The Chocolate Queen xoxo**


	2. Pillow Fights, 31 Dresses, and a Bet

**Many thanks to wisdom-jewel and Christopher Scott for reviewing! And also to Midnighter67, StarDuskX, and Hinata FTW for favoriting! You guys had me dancing around the house for 5 minutes (I stopped when I stubbed my toe on my desk...it hurt). *gives you guys a cyber chocolate***

**Since I had a snow day today, I thought I should update this. Don't you guys love it when you have time? ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**-/-  
**

_Whoosh_.

Ino was suddenly hit by a blast of cold air as the blankets were pulled back from her. Then she felt someone pulling on her arm.

"Come on, Ino! It's time to get up!"

Ino was still in dreamland so Tenten's voice sounded very far away.

"Not now," she mumbled. "Go away." She curled up in a small ball on the bed and hugged her pillow closer to her.

"Fine. Then I need to try something else," Tenten muttered crossly. Ino could hear her walking away. Then suddenly-

_Wham_!

Something big and soft was hurled into her face. "Ack!" Ino screamed and her eyes snapped open. She flung the pillow that Tenten had thrown at her away. It landed on the floor.

"I'm going to get you, Tenten!" she shouted and jumped down from her bed. Grabbing her own pillow, she chucked it at Tenten's head. Tenten ducked, and laughed when it hit Sakura instead.

"Ow! What the hell?" Sakura screamed. She had been effectively woken up by the force of Ino's pillow. Seeing Tenten laugh at her made her furious. "What's your problem?"

"It wasn't me! It was Ino!" Tenten protested.

Sakura didn't listen to her. It was either that or she didn't care. Snatching up the pillow, she threw it at Tenten. The impact knocked her over and she staggered back a few steps.

"Ugh, Sakura, why do you have to be so damn strong?" Tenten muttered. Grabbing two pillows she threw one at Ino (for trying to hit her with one) and one at Sakura (for hitting her with one).

All hell broke loose. After about ten minutes, the girls flopped onto the ground, panting for breath. Strangely, Hinata slept through the whole thing.

"N-naruto-kun," she mumbled in her sleep and turned over.

"Aw, how sweet, she's dreaming of her boyfriend," Ino cooed, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Her boyfriend-to-be, if everything goes right,"

Beckoning Sakura and Tenten over, she told them about her plan.

-/-

An hour later, the girls were all awake and dressed. Hinata was standing in front of Ino's huge walk-in closet. She gaped in amazement.

There was every style of clothing imaginable, from formal gowns to casual jeans. High heels were strewn across the floor and skirts were draped over a stool on the side. Jackets and hoodies were carelessly tossed in a corner, and there was a pile of dirty underwear on the side.

In other words, it was a mess.

"Uh, I'm not exactly the most organized person, but I'm sure we can find something in here for Hinata!" Ino said, scratching her head sheepishly.

"Yeah…sure," Tenten muttered.

"Anyway! Remember the plan, guys?" Ino looked at Tenten and Sakura meaningfully.

"W-what?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, just something I made up to make 'Operation NaruHina' work," Ino said vaguely. "Wait here, Hinata-chan. Me and Tenten and Forehead have to discuss something."

She pulled them out of the room. "Forehead! You have the plan?" She spoke in low, conspiring whispers.

"Yes, I do, Ino-piggy," Sakura whispered back and pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of her jean pocket. She unfolded it and it read in Sakura's flowery cursive:

-/-

"Operation NaruHina" : The Plan

Step 1: Get Naruto to notice Hinata. (Piggy will give her something cool to wear.) While at school, we will comment on how stunning Hinata looks and this will (hopefully) get Naruto's attention. If it fails, we will formulate a Plan B.

Step 2: Get Hinata to confess. If she doesn't have the guts, tying them up and throwing them into a room together might help. Or we can impersonate Hinata's voice over the phone.

Step 3: Wait for Naruto to realize his burning love and desire for Hinata. Then he will (hopefully) ask her out, and everyone's happy! If Naruto has no feelings for Hinata (which is highly unlikely) we will pound it into his skull somehow (I will use my super strength).

-/-

Tenten raised her eyebrows. "'Burning love and desire'? Have you been hanging out with Lee lately?"

"No, of course not," Sakura scoffed. "_Ino _said that."

"Whatever. But this plan seems to involve a lot of using force if something goes wrong," Tenten said, and paused for a second. "I like it!"

"Yeah!" Ino grinned. "And we can always call in reinforcements!" Sakura and Tenten stared at her. "You know, like Naruto's friends!" She giggled. "I could spend some quality time with Sasuke!"

Sakura glared at her. "You. Will. Not. Touch. My. Sasuke," she said between gritted teeth.

Ino flipped her hair. "_Your _Sasuke? Hah! What a joke!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "You guys are so annoying!"

Just then, Hinata called, "G-guys? A-are you d-done yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" Tenten called back, and dragged Ino and Sakura back into the room.

"Hey, Forehead, I bet I could get Sasuke to ask me out before you can," Ino taunted to Sakura.

"Oh yeah? What do you bet?" Sakura smirked.

"Winner gets to keep Sasuke, and loser has to…" Ino grinned. "Loser has to ask Lee out."

Sakura gulped. Ino tended to be more outgoing and impulsive then her, and rushed headfirst into fights while Sakura chose to think things over. But she couldn't let Ino think she was a wimp, so she wore a mask of confidence over her worry.

"You're on."

-/-

"Hey, Hinata-chan! Try this one!" Ino held up dress #31. The girls were trying to find the "perfect" dress for Hinata. Well, Ino was. After dress #10, Tenten and Sakura had lost interest and were lying on Ino's bed, Sakura studying for the final and Tenten reading manga.

Even patient Hinata was getting tired, but she was too polite to say so. "O-ok, I-Ino-chan." Wearily, she slipped on dress #31. Ino stared at her. "…Woah," she breathed. "Girls, I think I've found it!" she raised her voice.

Tenten and Sakura looked up from their books. Ino pushed Hinata out of her closet. Ino placed her hands on her hips, and arched an eyebrow. "Well? Am I a genius or what?"

They were speechless. The dress had puffed sleeves, and came slightly below Hinata's knees. It was pale lavender in color, with a small violet bow at the top. A wide ribbon the same color as the bow ran across the waist. The dress was simple, but at the same time beautiful. It was cute, but at the same time elegant.

"Naruto is definitely blind if he doesn't notice you after you wear that," Tenten proclaimed. Sakura nodded, and Hinata blushed.

"N-not r-really," she protested.

Ino snorted. "Don't be so modest! You have a great figure, you know." Ino slyly looked at Sakura. "Unlike Forehead here."

Sakura turned red. "Shut up, Piggy!"

Ino wouldn't let it go, "We'll see tomorrow, right?" She smiled sweetly, but it was filled with venom.

"W-what are t-they talking about?" Hinata asked, confused.

"Some bet to get Sasuke to ask them out," Tenten responded.

Ino turned back to Hinata. "Don't worry about it, Hinata-chan. Just think about how to get Naruto to notice you! Wear that dress tomorrow. You can even keep it if you want, 'cause it looks tacky on me."

"T-thank y-you, Ino-chan!"

-/-

When the girls had left, Ino logged on to her computer. In the search box for Google, she typed in, "How to get someone to ask you out".

Smirking, she muttered, "You're going _down_, Forehead."

-/-

Because Sakura and Tenten lived close to each other, Tenten got a ride with Sakura.

"So, did you figure out what to do with Sasuke yet?" Tenten asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh, not really," Sakura mumbled.

Tenten poked her. "Think, Sakura! I know academically, you're smarter than Ino, but she can be really crafty when it comes to boys."

Sakura sighed. "I know, I'm trying to think of something," Then she thought of something else. "Hey, Tenten, do _you_ like anybody?"

Tenten blushed, and Sakura immediately knew the answer. Growing curious, she asked, "What's he like? Tell me!"

"Well, he's really smart…" Tenten started.

-/-

Hinata was at her house. She pulled the pretty dress out of the plastic bag Ino had put it in. Feeling the smooth, silky, material, she wondered if it was too fancy for school. After all, she _never_ wore dresses, and hid her body behind a thick jacket all the time.

"I-I hope y-you'll notice me n-now, Naruto-kun," she whispered softly to herself, and smiled.

-/-

**That ending pretty much sucked. =_= Most of this is filler, but it's somewhat important, I guess. I need to work on my transitions.**

**Anyway, please review, favorite, subscribe, whatever. They make me really happy! ^_^ And constructive criticism, please. **

**Also, I got a question for you guys. My story stats aren't showing up at all, and since I'm fairly new here, I was wondering if they only update it at the end of the month or something like that? If anyone can tell me, that would really help.  
**

**From Her Royal Majesty,**

**The Chocolate Queen xoxo  
**


	3. Mastermind Tenten's Brilliant Plan

**Many thanks to my reviewers! I love you guys! ;D And as for pairings for Ino and Sakura, I'm keeping those a secret, but feel free to make suggestions.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Please don't sue me because I'm broke from buying Nana manga.  
**

-/-

**Ino: Hinata, u awake?**

**Hinata: Yeah, what's up?**

**Ino: Just reminding u to wear the dress! **

**Hinata: Yes, I know. BTW, thx for giving it to me!**

**Ino: no prob! see u at school! **

-/-

Sakura and Tenten walked to school together.

"You managed to get around answering the question yesterday, but have you thought about what you're going to do about Sasuke?" Tenten asked.

Sakura groaned. "Jeez, Tenten, don't ask me about that! It's my own business, ok?"

Pouting, Tenten said, "I just don't want you to get humiliated by Ino, that's all. And I really don't want to have to see you ask Lee out. I mean, that guy's a whacko job!"

Sakura laughed, but she was feeling pretty nervous about the bet. Actually, she hadn't been thinking about what she'd about Sasuke at all. She preferred to procrastinate about it, since it gave her a bad feeling. She knew that Ino was probably up to something already, and that just made her feel worse.

-/-

Ino was, in fact, also a bit nervous. That morning, she had pulled her blonde hair into a high ponytail, as always. Then thinking that it might attract Sasuke's attention if she wore it down, she pulled out the ponytail. She looked prettier with it up, she thought. So she put it up again. But that made her look normal. She didn't want to look plain, so she put it down.

It was quite messy when it was down, actually. So she put it up again.

She spent about ten minutes in the bathroom doing that, but she consoled herself by saying that it took effort to look beautiful.

Remembering about Operation NaruHina, she had pulled out her cell and texted Hinata. She loved playing matchmaker, but she decided that for today, she should focus more on Sasuke.

-/-

"Hey, Hinata-chan!"

The loud brunette tapped the shoulder of the quiet, dark-haired girl.

Hinata turned around.

"G-good morning, Tenten-chan," Hinata greeted her.

They had homeroom together, with Hatake-sensei. Hinata sat in front of Tenten, who sat next to Neji. The classroom was abuzz with the normal chatter of freshmen excited for summer. Finals were only a week away, after all.

"Hey, Naruto isn't here yet," Tenten observed.

"Y-yeah," Hinata said.

Neji overheard their conversation and snorted.

"Naruto's never on time. We're almost sophomores; he should be more responsible," he said.

Tenten rolled her eyes, hiding the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach when he talked to her. "Yeesh, Neji, you sound like my mother,"

She laughed at the way he grimaced at her. Gawd, he was cute.

"But Kakashi-sensei's always late anyway, so it doesn't really matter," he continued.

"Whatever. Don't you _like_ getting to miss a half-period of math?" she asked, but he didn't have time to answer because Tenten's attention was quickly redirected to the blonde haired boy in the bright orange T-shirt that came tumbling into the room. He jumped up, ninja style, and walked to his desk in the corner.

"Hey, Hinata! Look, he's finally here!" she whispered excitedly to Hinata. "I'm going to talk to him!" She winked at her, and ran off in the direction of Naruto's desk, which was on the other side of the room.

"N-no!" Hinata whispered back frantically, but of course Tenten didn't hear her. She saw Tenten boldly walk up to Naruto and start talking to him. She wished that she could hear what they were saying.

"Does she like him or something?" Neji raised an eyebrow.

"N-no! Of course not! I-it's not like that!" Hinata waved her hands back and forth furiously, wondering how Neji could possibly misunderstand it. This only made Neji more suspicious.

-/-

Meanwhile, Tenten had skipped up to Naruto's desk. "Hey, Naruto-kun!" she chirped.

"Huh? Who are you?" Naruto scratched his head.

A vein on Tenten's head twitched. She wondered how the smart Hinata could like someone this stupid. Keeping up the happy façade, she said, "I'm Tenten! But that's not important. You see that girl over there?" She pointed at Hinata.

"Who? Oh, you mean Hinata?"

_Well, that's a good thing_, Tenten thought dryly. _At least he knows who she is._

"Yup! Don't you think she looks pretty today?"

Naruto blinked. "I guess she looks nice."

_Nice_? Only _nice_?

Tenten resisted the urge to slap this idiot. She would have said more if Kakashi-sensei hadn't just walked into the room.

"Bye, Naruto! Nice talking to you!" With that, she made a beeline for her desk.

"Bye…" Naruto scratched his head again. _Wait, what was her name?_

-/-

"Class, I want you to do these problems from the textbook," Kakashi said, underlining the page numbers on the board with a dry erase marker.. He then returned to his desk, where he flipped open his book, and giggled at the "delights" he found on the page.

Tenten was sure he wasn't looking, so while her classmates got out their textbooks, she swiped her phone out of her pocket and texted to Sakura and Ino.

**Tenten: guys, we have some trouble! I have hmrm w/ hinata and naruto, and naruto doesn't seem 2 notice her at all! what should I do? **

-/-

Ino and Sakura had History with Sarutobi-sensei. Sasuke was in their class, so Ino was busy trying to get him to notice her. That morning, she had hid in the girl's bathroom until the late bell rang. The desks in her History class were lined up in twos, so she waited until everyone had taken a seat, and then entered and plopped herself next to Sasuke, ignoring the empty seat next to Shikamaru, where she normally sat.

"Go away," Sasuke had said coldly, but Ino just smiled sweetly back at him.

"I have to sit here today. Shika-kun has an awful cold and I don't want to catch it." The lie came effortlessly, and Sasuke couldn't do anything about it, since Shikamaru was sleeping, as usual.

"Hn," was all he said, and twisted his head to look out the window.

Ino frowned at this. She had gone to even longer lengths at deciding her outfit that morning, and it was kind of discouraging that he wasn't looking at her.

Ino was sporting a trendy purple shirt that slipped over one shoulder, revealing the hot pink strap of her tank top. The shirt had a hot pink sequined heart in the middle of it, matching perfectly with the tank top. She also wore a frayed denim skirt, and to top it all off, she had on neon pink high heels.

Thinking that she should at least rejoice in her small victory of getting to sit next to Sasuke, she turned around to look at Sakura, and stuck her tongue out at her. Sakura was sitting next to Lee, and gripping her pencil so hard that it could snap any minute now. If looks could kill, Ino would be that dead squirrel she had saw on the road that morning.

"Class, you have a project to do. You will work with your seat partner," Asuma-sensei said.

_SCORE!_

Sakura's pencil snapped.

"Shikamaru, you can work with…" Asuma scanned the room. "Sasuke and Ino."

Ino frowned, but she guessed that she could cope with Shika-kun. He just couldn't interfere with her lovely bonding sessions with Sasuke.

-/-

Tenten was getting worried. Ino and Sakura both hadn't responded to her text yet. Sakura not answering was something Tenten could understand, since Sakura was always a goody-goody and paid attention in class; but if Ino didn't respond, something was wrong.

She scribbled down her answers in her notebook. From her point of view, she could see that Naruto was biting his pencil really hard and hadn't written any answers yet. Suddenly, an idea struck her. If Sakura and Ino couldn't help, she would have to carry out 'Operation NaruHina' by herself. Just with some minor adjustments to the first plan.

She whispered to Neji, "Oi, do you have Naruto's phone number?"

He looked at her strangely. "No, why would I? I don't think he even has a phone. Why do you need it?"

She ignored his question. "I'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way," she muttered. Ribbing out a page from her notebook, she wrote,

**Hey, Naruto! This is Tenten. Do you know the answer to no. 5?**

"You're already on number 37, why do you need number 5?" Neji asked, reading over her shoulder.

"Shush!"

She folded up the paper, and whispered to the boy in front of her, "Pass this to Naruto." He nodded, and Tenten watched as the paper made its way to Naruto. He scribbled something down, and the paper was passed back to her.

Retrieving the paper, Tenten read what Naruto had written.

**Oh, so that was your name! I dunno the answer cuz I'm still on no.1, damnit!**

Tenten smiled. All was going to plan.

**I think Hinata is almost finished. If you want help, pass this to her.**

After Naruto read it, he passed it to Hinata.

Hinata read it, and turning around, threw a questioning glance at Tenten. Tenten feigned innocence, and pretended to do her work.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Hinata write something down. Grinning gleefully, Tenten watched the note travel back to Naruto, and it kept going back and forth. Naruto looked less confused with each note.

_Wow, Hinata must be really helping him_. _I knew she was smart._

Neji was frantically whispering to Hinata about how the Hyuga heir shouldn't indulge herself in such activities. Tenten felt like applauding when Hinata didn't listen to him and continued the note-passing with Naruto.

All was well until class ended and Kakashi said, "Tenten, Naruto, Hinata, and Neji, lunch detention for passing notes."

_Shoot_.

"But I didn't do anything!" Neji protested, but he was ignored.

-/-

**My stats are fixed now, so now I know how much hits I got.**

**...**

**400+ hits and...6 reviews. People, seriously? I already promised you cyber chocolate. T_T**

**I need to know what you think! I know I'm not that good as a writer, so please give me some pointers! **

**Her Royal Majesty,**

**The Chocolate Queen xoxo  
**


	4. What Happened in Detention

**HAI EVERYONE. **

**First of all, I want to thank all of my reviewers. I guess my...erm...rant? from last chapter about the number of hits compared to the number of reviews worked, because suddenly, reviews came flooding in. I am so happy! You guys all get cyber chocolates! *throws chocolate to reviewers***

**Secondly, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a month. Just to let you guys know, I'm a procrastinator. Every time I logged on, I would be all, "I'm going to work on my fanfic today!"...and then I would go listen to Vocaloid on Youtube or something. So I'm really sorry. T^T**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**-/-  
**

When lunchtime rolled around, Tenten, Hinata, Neji, and Naruto walked to Kakashi-sensei's classroom together. Not strangely enough, he wasn't there.

Naruto crossed his arms. "We shouldn't have come here at all. I knew that he would be late. What type of teacher is late for detention?" he whined.

Tenten smirked, her mind working up another brilliant plan. She was supposed to get Naruto and Hinata to be alone, so Hinata could confess- that was Step Two of the Plan- but at the rate things were going, Hinata would never be able to do that. So Tenten opted for a different angle.

"If Kakashi is late, that's not our problem. We should still be good little students and wait for him, right?" she said with levity (1), turning to Hinata.

"I-I guess so," Hinata, being the smart girl she was, knew that Tenten was up to something because: one, Tenten _never_ behaved like a "good little student", and two, when was Tenten _not_ up to something?

"Naruto and Hinata stay here. Neji and I have to go somewhere!" dragging Neji by his arm, she started to lead him out of the room.

"…Where?" Neji questioned. He delicately arched an eyebrow.

"Uh…" Tenten racked her brain for an excuse. "I need to pee," was her ladylike response.

"Then why do I have to–" Neji was cut off by a glare from Tenten that clearly said, _You don't go along with this, you die_. Tenten never let anybody get in the way of her schemes, not even the person she had a crush on for seven years.

In the hallway, she proclaimed in an overly loud voice- so Naruto was sure to hear her- "Oh joy! We are going to the bathroom! What a merry trip it is, right Neji?"

A well-aimed elbow jab to his side made Neji splutter out, "_Of course_, it is, Tenten."

-/-

"Hey Hina-chan, can you help me study for algebra after school? Jiraiya says that he'll make me get a tutor, if my grade doesn't go up." Naruto said, unaware that Tenten and Neji were still standing by the door, eavesdropping on them. At least, Tenten was.

Hinata turned red. _H-Hina-chan? I could get used to that nickname._

"Uh, s-sure,"

Naruto smiled brightly. "Yay! Thanks, Hina-chan!" He hugged her and Hinata promptly fainted in his arms.

Tenten groaned inwardly, and Neji made a move to go into the room, but she held him back. She wanted to see where this would go without her help.

"H-Hinata-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto was frantically saying. In his freaked out state of mind (and also due to the fact that he was not particularly smart), Naruto forgot that he was the thing that was keeping Hinata from falling, and dropped her by accident.

"That idiot!" Neji muttered beside Tenten, and they both rushed in to save the day. Hinata crumpled to the floor.

"We need to bring her to the nurse!" Tenten ordered.

"W-what? Where did you guys come from?" Naruto stared at them with widened eyes. "I mean, I thought you went to the bathroom!"

"Um…yeah, about that…uh…we were going to, but then I decided I didn't need to anymore, so we came back here," Tenten responded lamely.

"Oh…you guys are fast!"

"Yep, we sure are!"

"You guys are like ninjas!"

"Uh…sure,"

Neji rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Tenten cleared her throat. "Naruto, you carry Hinata to the nurse."

He awkwardly picked her up and carried her bridal-style while Tenten snapped pictures of them with her cell phone and Neji trailed behind, feeling quite left out.

-/-

Once they got there, Tenten shooed Neji away and forced Naruto to stay.

-/-

**Ino**:** hey, tenten, where r u?**

**Tenten: nurse's office with naruto, and hinata…long story**

**Ino: tell me when we have English together, ok?**

**Tenten: sure**

-/-

**Sakura**: **where are you? why aren't you at lunch?**

**Tenten: I'll tell you when we walk home together**

-/-

**Neji:**** Is Hinata ok now?**

**Tenten: how'd u get my number? Stalker!**

**Neji: You gave it to me, smart one.**

**Tenten: did I? whatever. hinata's still unconscious, but we think she'll gain consciousness soon.**

**Neji: Good. And why did you make me leave again?**

**Tenten: cuz you'd only interfere.**

**Neji: interfere with what?**

**Tenten: none of ur business.**

**Neji: what?**

**...Tenten?**

**are you still there?**

**Answer me!**

-/-

Hinata could hear the sound of people talking.

"She'll be okay, right?"

"Yes, she'll wake up soon. Do you know what could have happened to cause her to faint?"

"Uh…I was just hugging her and then she suddenly fainted."

"Ah…I see…Oh look, she's conscious now."

Bright blue, worried eyes were staring at her. Hinata turned a deep shade of scarlet.

_H-he's so close to me!_

"Oi, Hina-chan, you okay?" Naruto yelled into her face.

"Shush, Uzumaki, you're going to make her faint again!" Nurse Shizune chastised.

"Hey, Hinata's awake?" Tenten got up from a chair in the corner. "Lunch just ended, so I have to go to English now. Will you be okay with Naruto?"

"Um… " Hinata blushed at the prospect of spending more time with Naruto.

"Then it's settled. Bye!" With those words, Tenten was out the door.

Nurse Shizune wrote a pass for Naruto and Hinata, and they left. Tenten was nowhere to be found.

"So, about the algebra thing," Naruto said.

"Y-yeah?" Hinata blushed a little.

"Will you be able to help me after school?"

"O-of course!" More blushing.

"When do you have time?"

"Um, I have clubs afterschool most days, s-so is Saturday...two PM okay?" Even more blushing.

"Sure! It's a date!" He hugged her again, and Hinata summoned up all her strength to not faint this time.

-/-

Tenten slunk into English a little late. Luckily, Iruka-sensei was already engrossed with writing notes on the board, and didn't notice. Ino's face lit up when she saw her, and gestured for her to sit in the seat next to her.

"So, exactly _why_ weren't you and Hinata at lunch?" she whispered, once Tenten got seated.

"We got detention because we were passing notes in Math," Tenten whispered back.

"Hinata? Passing notes? Stop joking, Tenten," Ino started copying the notes into her purple composition notebook.

"No, I'm serious! Naruto didn't understand the work, so I passed a note telling him to pass the note to Hinata, and she passed it back with instructions and stuff. I don't really know what she wrote, but it helped him," Tenten opened her notebook and rummaged through her pencil case for a pencil.

"So you think he likes her?"

"I don't know. He still seems pretty oblivious. I mean, didn't we think he would be stunned when he saw her in the dress? It didn't work. But when he hugged her, Hinata fainted and we had to bring her to the nurse."

Ino laughed out loud.

"Is there something about the notes that amuses you, Yamanaka-san?"

"No, sorry," Ino replied, and lowered her eyes.

"Then I suggest that you continue copying them," Iruka-sensei said dryly, before returning to the board.

"Why was he hugging her?" Ino continued in low whispers.

"Naruto wanted Hinata to help him with algebra. When she agreed, he hugged her. I have to show you the pictures I took of them!" Tenten said. "They are _so_ cute!"

"I wanna see!"

"Later, Ino. Iruka-sensei will take away my phone if he sees me with it," Tenten changed the subject. "Anyway, what's up with your outfit?"

Ino fluttered her eyelashes. "I have the bet with Sakura, remember?"

"So that's why you're dressing like a slut?"

Ino's face hardened and she dug her sharp, perfectly manicured, hot pink nails into Tenten's arm.

Tenten winced.

"Ow! You really need to cut your nails, Ino!" She forgot to whisper, which earned them another pointed stare from Iruka-sensei.

-/-

"Hey, Sakura!"

The pinkette turned her head to the source of the sound. Tenten was behind her, waving. Sakura waited as Tenten jogged to catch up.

"Hey," she replied, turning towards her. "Where were you at lunch?"

Tenten relayed the events like she had done with Ino. Sakura laughed when she heard that Hinata had fainted, then shook her head. "I _knew_ that was going to happen soon."

Tenten smiled and shrugged. "At least I got to spend time with Neji, though I annoyed the heck out of him."

Sakura looked at her strangely. "If you like him so much, shouldn't you be acting nicer to him?"

Tenten grinned mischievously. "Nah. I just irritate him a lot. That's my way of telling him I like him!" She kicked a pebble that was on the sidewalk. "He only thinks of me as a sister, anyway."

-/-

Once she reached her street, Sakura said goodbye to Tenten and they went their separate ways. Sakura trailed up the stairs to her room, and dropping her schoolbag to the ground, she flopped onto her bed and hugged a pillow to her chest.

It seemed like every one of her friends had some boy that liked them. Tenten said Neji only thought of her as a sister, but Sakura knew better. Naruto obviously liked Hinata enough to want her help, and now even Ino had Sasuke. She knew Sasuke probably had no feelings for Ino, but at least they spent time together because of their project. Sakura had never felt so alone.

**-/-**

**(1) Levity! ZOMG I used a vocab word! I'm not sure if I used it correctly, though. Can anyone tell me if I did?**

**And don't ask me why they are studying algebra in math. It's just the first thing that popped into my head. If anyone knows a more realistic thing for them to be studying, tell me and I'll edit this.**

**In case you didn't notice, the words in bold were texts.  
**

**Review, please! They keep me going! ^_^**

**From Her Royal Majesty,**

**The Chocolate Queen xoxo  
**


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